CHAPTER XLVIII.
THE ORDERING OF EUROPE.
While these events had been in progress three squadrons of air-shipshad been speeding to St. Petersburg, Vienna, and Rome. Three vesselshad been despatched to each city, and the instructions of those incommand of the squadrons were to bring the German Emperor, theEmperor of Austria, and the King of Italy to London.
The news of the defeat of the League had preceded them by telegraph,and all three monarchs willingly obeyed the summons which theycarried to attend a Conference for the ordering of affairs of Europe.
The German Emperor was at once released from his captivity, althoughonly under a threat of the destruction of the city by the air-ships,for the Grand Duke Vladimir, who ruled at St. Petersburg as deputy ofthe Tsar, had first refused to believe the astounding story of thedefeat of his brother and the destruction of his army. The terribleachievements of the air-ships were, however, too well and toocertainly known to permit of resistance by force, and so the Kaiserwas released, and made his first aerial voyage from St. Petersburg toLondon, arriving there at ten o'clock on the evening of the 8th, inthe midst of the jubilations of the rejoicing city.
The King of England had sent a despatch to the Emperor of Austriainviting him to the Conference, and General Cosensz had sent asimilar one to the King of Italy, and so there had been no difficultyabout their coming. At mid-day on the 9th the Conference was openedin St. Paul's, which was the only public building left intact inLondon capable of containing the vast audience that was present, anaudience composed of men of every race and language in Europe.
Natas was absent, and Tremayne occupied his seat in the centre of thetable; the other members of the Inner Circle, now composing theSupreme Council of the Federation, were present, with the exceptionof Natasha, Radna, and Anna Ornovski, and the other seats at thetable were occupied by the monarchs to whom the purposes of theConference had been explained earlier in the day. France wasrepresented in the person of General le Gallifet.
The body of the Cathedral was filled to overflowing, with theexception of an open space kept round the table by the Federationguards.
The proceedings commenced with a brief but impressive religiousservice conducted by the Primate of England, who ended it with ashort but earnest appeal, delivered from the altar steps, to thosecomposing the Conference, calling upon them to conduct theirdeliberations with justice and moderation, and reminding them of themillions who were waiting in other parts of Europe for the blessingsof peace and prosperity which it was now in their power to conferupon them. As the Archbishop concluded the prayer for the blessing ofHeaven upon their deliberation, with which he ended his address,Tremayne, after a few moments of silence, rose in his place and,speaking in clear deliberate tones, began as follows:--
"Your Majesties have been called together to hear the statement ofthe practical issues of the conflict which has been decided betweenthe armies of the Federation of the Anglo-Saxon peoples and those ofthe late Franco-Slavonian League.
"Into the motives which led myself and those who have acted with meto take the part which we have done in this tremendous struggle,there is now no need for me to enter. It is rather with results thanwith motives that we have to deal, and those results may be verybriefly stated.
"We have demonstrated on the field of battle that we hold in ourhands means of destruction against which it is absolutely impossiblefor any army fortress or fleet to compete with the slightest hope ofvictory; and more than this, we are in command of the only organisedarmy and fleet now on land or sea. We have been compelled by thenecessities of the case to use our powers unsparingly up to a certainpoint. That we have not used them beyond that point, as we might havedone, to enslave the world, is the best proof that I can give of thehonesty of our purposes with regard to the future.
"But it must never be forgotten that these powers remain with us, andcan be evoked afresh should necessity ever arise.
"It is not our purpose to enter upon a war of conquest, or upon aseries of internal revolutions in the different countries of Europe,the issue of which might be the subversion of all order, and thenecessity for universal conquest on our part in order to restore it.
"With two exceptions the internal affairs of all the nations ofEurope, saving only Russia, which for the present we shall governdirectly, will be left undisturbed. The present tenure of land willbe abolished, and the only rights to the possession of it that willbe recognised will be occupation and cultivation. Experience hasshown that the holding of land for mere purposes of luxury orspeculative profit leads to untold injustices to the generalpopulation of a country. The land on which cities and towns are builtwill henceforth belong to the municipalities, and the rents of thebuildings will be paid in lieu of taxation.
"The other exception is even more important than this. We have wagedwar in order that it may be waged no more, and we are determined thatit shall now cease for ever. The peoples of the various nations haveno interest in warfare. It has been nothing but an affliction and acurse to them, and we are convinced that if one generation grows upwithout drawing the sword, it will never be drawn again as long asmen remain upon the earth. All existing fortifications will thereforebe at once destroyed, standing armies will be disbanded, and all thewarships in the world, which cannot be used for peaceful purposes,will be sent to the bottom of the deepest part of the ocean.
"For the maintenance of peace and order each nation will maintain abody of police, in which all citizens between the ages of twenty andforty will serve in rotation, and this police will be under thecontrol, first of the Sovereign and Parliament of the country, andultimately of an International Board, which will sit once a year ineach of the capitals of Europe in turn, and from whose decision therewill be no appeal.
"The possession of weapons of warfare, save by the members of thisforce, will be forbidden under penalty of death, as we shallpresuppose that no man can possess such weapons save with intent tokill, and all killing, save execution for murder, will henceforth betreated as murder. Declaration of war by one country upon anotherwill be held to be a national crime, and, should such an event everoccur, the forces of the Anglo-Saxon Federation will be at once armedby authority of the Supreme Council, and the guilty nation will becrushed and its territories will be divided among its neighbours.
"Such are the broad outlines of the course which we intend to pursue,and all I have now to do is to commend them to your earnestconsideration in the name of those over whom you are the constitutedrulers."
As the President of the Federation sat down the German Emperor roseand said in a tone which showed that he had heard the speech with butlittle satisfaction--
"From what we have heard it would seem that the Federation of theAnglo-Saxon peoples considers itself as having conquered the world,and as being, therefore, in a position to dictate terms to all thepeoples of the earth. Am I correct in this supposition?"
Tremayne bowed in silence, and he continued--
"But this amounts to the destruction of the liberties of all peopleswho are not of the Anglo-Saxon race. It seems impossible to me tobelieve that free-born men who have won their liberty upon thebattlefield will ever consent to submit to a despotism such as this.What if they refuse to do so?"
Tremayne was on his feet in an instant. He turned half round andfaced the Kaiser, with a frown on his brow and an ominous gleam inhis eyes--
"Your Majesty of Germany may call it a despotism if you choose, butremember that it is a despotism of peace and not of war, and that itaffects only those who would be peace-breakers and drawers of thesword upon their fellow-creatures. I regret that you have made itnecessary for me to remind you that we have conquered yourconquerors, and that the despotism from which we have delivered thenations of Europe would infallibly have been ten thousand times worsethan that which you are pleased to miscall by the name.
"You deplore the loss of the right and the power to draw the swordone upon another. Well, now, take that right back again for the lasttime! Say here,
and now, that you will not acknowledge the supremacyof the Council of the Federation, and take the consequences!
"Our soldiers are still in the field, our aerial fleet is still inthe air, and our sea-navy is under steam. But, remember, if youappeal to the sword it shall be with you as it was with AlexanderRomanoff and the Russian force which invaded England. We haveannihilated the army to a man, and exiled the Autocrat for life.Choose now, peace or war, and let those who would choose war with youtake their stand beside you, and we will fight another Armageddon!"
The pregnant and pitiless words brought the Kaiser to his senses inan instant. He remembered that his army was destroyed, his strongestfortresses dismantled, his treasury empty, and the manhood of hiscountry decimated. He turned white to the lips and sank back into hischair, covered his face with his hands, and sobbed aloud. And soended the last and only protest made by the spirit of militarismagainst the new despotism of peace.
One by one the monarchs now rose in their places, bowed to theinevitable, and gave their formal adherence to the new order ofthings. General le Gallifet came last. When he had affixed hissignature to the written undertaking of allegiance which they had allsigned, he said, speaking in French--
"I was born and bred a soldier, and my life has been passed either inwarfare or the study of it. I have now drawn the sword for the lasttime, save to defend France from invasion. I have seen enough ofmodern war, or, as I should rather call it, murder by machinery, forsuch it only is now. They spoke truly who prophesied that thesolution of the problem of aerial navigation would make warimpossible. It has made it impossible, because it has made it toounspeakably horrible for humanity to tolerate it.
"In token of the honesty of my belief I ask now that France andGermany shall bury their long blood-feud on their last battlefield,and in the persons of his German Majesty and myself shake hands inthe presence of this company as a pledge of national forgiveness andperpetual peace."
As he ceased speaking, he turned and held out his hand to the Kaiser.All eyes were turned on William II, to see how he would receive thisappeal. For a moment he hesitated, then his manhood and chivalryconquered his pride and national prejudice, and amidst the cheers ofthe great assembly, he grasped the outstretched hand of hishereditary enemy, saying in a voice broken by emotion--
"So be it. Since the sword is broken for ever, let us forget that wehave been enemies, and remember only that we are neighbours."
This ended the public portion of the Conference. From St. Paul'sthose who had composed it went to Buckingham Palace, in the groundsof which the aerial fleet was reposing on the lawns under a strongguard of Federation soldiers. Here they embarked, and were borneswiftly through the air to Windsor Castle, where they dined togetheras friends and guests of the King of England, and after dinnerdiscussed far on into the night the details of the new EuropeanConstitution which was to be drawn up and formally ratified withinthe next few days.
Shortly after noon on the following day the _Ithuriel_, with Natas,Natasha, Arnold, and Tremayne on board, rose into the air from thegrounds of Buckingham Palace and headed away to the northward. Thecontrol of affairs was left for the time being to a committee of themembers of what had once been the Inner Circle of the Terrorists, andwhich was now the Supreme Council of the Federation.
This was under the joint presidency of Alexis Mazanoff and NicholasRoburoff, who was exerting his great and well-proved administrativeabilities to the utmost in order to atone for the fault which had ledto the desertion of the _Lucifer_, and to amply justify theintercession of Natasha which had made it possible for him to bepresent at the last triumph of the Federation and the accomplishmentof the long and patient work of the Brotherhood. There was an immenseamount of work to be got through in the interval between thepronouncement of the judgment of Natas on the Tsar and his Ministersand the execution of the sentence. After twenty-four hours in Newgatethey were transferred to Wormwood Scrubs Prison, and there, under aguard of Federation soldiers, who never left them for a moment day ornight, they awaited the hour of their departure to Siberia.
Communication with all parts of the Continent and America was rapidlyrestored. The garrisons of the League were withdrawn from theconquered cities, gave up their arms at the depots of theirrespective regiments, and returned to their homes. The French andItalian troops round London were disarmed and taken to France in theFederation fleet of transports. Meanwhile three air-ships were placedtemporarily at the disposal of the Emperor of Austria, the Kaiser,and the King of Italy, to convey them to their capitals, and furnishthem with the means of speedy transit about their dominions, and toand from London during the drawing up of the new EuropeanConstitution.
A fleet of four air-ships and fifteen aerostats was also despatchedto the Russian capital, and compelled the immediate surrender of themembers of the Imperial family and the Ministers of the Government,and the instant disarmament of all troops on Russian soil, under painof immediate destruction of St. Petersburg and Moscow, and invasionand conquest of the country by the Federation armies. The Council ofState and the Ruling Senate were then dissolved, and the Executivepassed automatically into the hands of the controllers of theFederation. Resistance was, of course, out of the question, and assoon as it was once known for certain that the Tsar had been takenprisoner and his army annihilated, no one thought seriously of it, asit would have been utterly impossible to have defended even Russiaagainst the overwhelming forces of the Federation and the BritishEmpire, assisted by the two aerial fleets.
The _Ithuriel_, after a flight of a little more than an hour, stoppedand descended to the earth on the broad, sloping, and nowsnow-covered lawn in front of Alanmere Castle. Lord Marazion and hisdaughter, who, as it is almost needless to say, had been kept wellinformed of the course of events since the Federation forces landedin England, had also been warned by telegraph of the coming of theiraerial visitors, and before the _Ithuriel_ had touched the earth, thenew mistress of Alanmere had descended the steps of the terrace thatran the whole length of the Castle front to welcome its lord and hersback to his own again.
Then there were greetings of lovers and friends, well known to eachother by public report and familiar description, yet never seen inthe flesh till now, and of others long parted by distance and bymisconception of aims and motives. But however pleasing it might beto dwell at length upon the details of such a meeting, and itsdelightful contrast to the horrors of unsparing war and mercilessdestruction, there is now no space to do so, for the original limitsof this history of the near future have already been reached andoverpassed, and it is time to make ready for the curtain to descendupon the last scenes of the world-drama of the Year of Wonders--1904.
Tremayne was the first to alight, and he was followed by Natasha andArnold at a respectful distance, which they kept until the firstgreeting between the two long and strangely-parted lovers was over.When at length Lady Muriel got out of the arms of her future lord,she at once ran to Natasha with both her hands outstretched, a verypicture of grace and health and blushing loveliness.
She was Natasha's other self, saving only for the incomparablebrilliance of colouring and contrast which the daughter of Natasderived from her union of Eastern and Western blood. Yet no fairertype of purely English beauty than Muriel Penarth could have beenfound between the Border and the Land's End, and what she lacked ofNatasha's half Oriental brilliance and fire she atoned for by anadded measure of that indescribable blend of dignity and gentlenesswhich makes the English gentlewoman perhaps the most truly lovable ofall women on earth.
"I could not have believed that the world held two such lovelywomen," said Arnold to Tremayne, as the two girls met and embraced."How marvellously alike they are, too! They might be sisters. Surelythey must be some relation."
"Yes, I am sure they are," replied Tremayne; "such a resemblancecannot be accidental. I remember in that queer double life of mine,when I was your unconscious rival, I used to interchange them untilthey almost seemed to be the same identity to me. There is somelittle m
ystery behind the likeness which we shall have cleared upbefore very long now. Natas told me to take Lord Marazion to him inthe saloon, and said he would not enter the Castle till he had spokenwith him alone. There he is at the door! You go and make Muriel'sacquaintance, and I will take him on board at once."
So saying, Tremayne ran up the terrace steps, shook hands heartilywith the old nobleman, and then came down with him towards theair-ship. As they met Lady Muriel coming up with Arnold on one sideof her and Natasha on the other, Lord Marazion stopped suddenly withan exclamation of wonder. He took his arm out of Tremayne's, stroderapidly to Natasha, and, before his daughter could say a word ofintroduction, put his hands on her shoulders, and looked into herlovely upturned face through a sudden mist of tears that roseunbidden to his eyes.
"It is a miracle!" he said, in a low voice that trembled withemotion. "If you are the daughter of Natas, there is no need to tellme who he is, for you are Sylvia Penarth's daughter too. Is not thatso, Sylvia di Murska--for I know you bear your mother's name?"
"Yes, I bear her name--and my father's. He is waiting for you in theair-ship, and he has much to say to you. You will bring him back tothe Castle with you, will you not?"
Natasha spoke with a seriousness that had more weight than her words,but Lord Marazion understood her meaning. He stooped down and kissedher on the brow, saying--
"Yes, yes; the past is the past. I will go to him, and you shall seeus come back together."
"And so we are cousins!" exclaimed Lady Muriel, slipping her armround Natasha's waist as she spoke. "I was sure we must be somerelation to each other; for, though I am not so beautiful"--
"Don't talk nonsense, or I shall call you 'Your Ladyship' for therest of the day. Yes, of course we are alike, since our mothers weretwin-sisters, and the very image of each other, according to theirportraits."
While the girls were talking of their new-found relationship, Arnoldhad dropped behind to wait for Tremayne, who, after he had taken LordMarazion into the saloon of the _Ithuriel_, had left him with Natasand returned to the Castle alone.